It’s set to be the summer of Monty Python. Not only are the surviving team reuniting for a series of sold-out live shows at the O2 arena in June, they’re also collaborating on a new feature film for the first time since 1983’s ‘The Meaning of Life’. It may not a Monty Python movie in the strictest sense, but ‘Absolutely Anything’, which starts shooting in London this Monday March 24, has all the ingredients for a classic farce.

For a start, it features the entire team – or at least their voices – as a bunch of meddling extraterrestrials who grant an everyday schlub with the power to do – as the title suggests – absolutely anything. Secondly, it features a who’s who of modern comedy talent, including Simon Pegg, Eddie Izzard and Sanjeev Bhaskar. But perhaps most importantly, it’s co-written and directed by the gang’s most enthusiastic cross-dresser (and the man behind the camera on ‘Life of Brian’), the great Terry Jones.

We spoke to Jones this week to find out exactly what to expect from the film, and started by asking him if getting all the Pythons – John Cleese, Eric Idle, Michael Palin, Terry Gilliam and himself – to lend their voice talent was a shrewd move to attract financial backers. ‘It was more that I couldn’t imagine who else would do it,’ he laughed. ‘We got Robin Williams to be the voice of a dog, but that didn’t get us any money either. So my son’s production company got it together in the end, and found the money.’ And what about those massive arena shows? What should audiences be expecting? ‘It’ll be mostly classic sketches,’ Jones told us. ‘But it’ll be proper show business. Eric (Idle) is directing it, for which I’m very grateful! He loves showbiz. There’ll be dancers and high-kicking lumberjacks and all!

‘Absolutely Anything’ is set for release in 2015 – keep an eye on timeout.com/film for news and reviews as they come in.

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